A Pleasant Surprise
by EmmaTheSpottedBat
Summary: The author gets the unexpected opportunity to play matchmaker to her favorite manga couple... SasuNaru.


A/N: If Naruto were mine, Sasuke would never have left Konoha. So it's not mine.

A Pleasant Surprise

I'm upstairs at my computer, waiting for another _Naruto_ episode to load, when I hear a knock at the door. I'm feeling brave, oddly enough, so I run downstairs to see who it is. I open the door and nearly fall backwards in shock. Why, I ask myself, is Uchiha Sasuke standing at my front door? My manners have not failed me, however, so I invite him in. I ask the black-haired boy if he would like something to eat or to drink, maybe some hot chocolate because it's so cold outside. He shakes his head, then asks me if he can sit down. Somehow he knows my name.

I fix myself a big steaming mug of cocoa and plop down on the chair across from where Sasuke is sitting on the couch. My first thought, understandably, is that he is some exceedingly skilled cosplayer. No, I reason, he looks far too much like a freshly drawn manga character to be human. I catch myself wondering if this is some kind of genjutsu.

Sasuke smirks and asks me if I'm wondering why he's here. Yes, I say. I tell him that I never would have expected an anime character, let alone such an antisocial one, to show up at my doorstep. His smirk widens, but I can see he's impressed that I didn't swoon over him. I wait in silence for him to answer me.

"Several of us younger shinobi were sent on missions recently to seek out 'public opinion'. I was told that I should go to you, that you would have something to tell me."

I try to be friendly and polite in my reply, yet I'm more confused than ever. "As far as I can think right now, there's nothing I can tell you that you don't already know."

"Hmph." Sasuke has crossed his arms. "Perhaps you'll think of it in a minute."

I smile and nod. Perhaps I will, I tell him.

We chat about the series. He is obviously trying to be gracious and respectful, as his questions and responses aren't monosyllabic like usual. Like usual. What do I know about how he is usually? I'm such a recent fan, and I haven't even reached Shippuden yet! Sasuke sees me falter in my conversation and asks if everything is all right.

I have the nerve, surprisingly, to burst out and say what I'm thinking. "Why was _I_ the one chosen for you to ask? I'm not complaining, but…" I stammer. "I'm hardly the sort who knows every little detail about the manga. I only got roped into this by a friend, and I don't know how in hell I'm supposed to help you!" I sigh heavily, already ashamed of my outburst.

He cocks his head and looks intently at me. "You were chosen, perhaps, because you're not a rabid fan-girl who would be too embarrassed to say anything."

"Maybe you're right." I smile ruefully.

To change the subject, Sasuke asks how my friend got me into _Naruto_. I blush a little and shake my head, then tell him that he doesn't want to know. He smirks again. He does want to know, he insists. I am almost too afraid to say anything, but all of a sudden, I hit upon an idea. Maybe _this_ is what he's supposed to find out from me. After a second's pause, I grin wickedly and respond that if he really wants to know, I'll show him on my computer upstairs.

Sasuke is intrigued, although I know he doesn't want to show it, and he follows me up the staircase. I dash over to my computer, open the lid, and click on the bookmark of YouTube—My Favorites. I tell Sasuke to look away as the page loads; I don't want him to see which videos I have on there. I click on the one with "Unwritten" in the title, unplug the headphones, and tell Sasuke that he can look now. He watches, horrorstruck—I am gleeful in my wickedness.

Before the slide show gets really steamy, I pause it and swivel around in my chair to face him. No, I was only imagining the horror on his face. He looks quite unsurprised, actually. The corners of his mouth creep upwards, though not in a smirk, for once. Sasuke is blushing. I decide to forego tact and ask him why he is smiling like that. In an instant, his composure returns, and my hopes sink, though when he finally answers me after exhaling slowly, I too cannot stop the grin from spreading across my face.

"I had no idea that was possible." He has one eyebrow raised.

I ask Sasuke what exactly does he mean, though I know full well what his answer will be.

He has to think about it for a moment. "I never knew…I never knew that anyone…"

"That anyone supported that pairing?" I supply. He nods. "Maybe that's what I was supposed to tell you." Now it's my turn to smirk.

It is evident to me that Sasuke is far too embarrassed to talk about this new complication. He gazes at the floor, still blushing slightly. I'm far too surprised, no, too ecstatic to say much either, so we sit in silence for a few seconds before Sasuke shakes himself awake from his reverie and tells me that he should be going. I nod, and walk him to the door. I add that he can tell Naruto to come visit if he's nearby, since I'd love to see him. He smirks, and then with a flash of blue and black, he's gone.

Naruto shows up the next day, a bundle of energy garbed in garish blue and orange. Luckily, I had persuaded Mum to buy some more ramen, so I have that to feed him. The first question out of his mouth, though, is, "What did you tell Sasuke?" I grin indulgently, then say that I'll tell him in a minute, and would he like some ramen? I've only got the instant kind, but Naruto says he doesn't care. He flops onto the big red couch as I pour in the boiling water, and when that is done, I walk over and sit down on the chair where Sasuke sat yesterday. This whole episode should have a dreamlike quality to it, yet I feel completely calm and collected as if I have been visited by anime characters every day of my life.

Naruto is pretty insistent, and asks me again what I told Sasuke. The other boy has been acting really funny since I talked to him, he informs me with a wide-eyed look.

What can I do, with his eyes like that? "I'll let you see what I showed him, but I have to warn you that you probably won't like it."

Naruto scoffs at that, so I take him upstairs. The thought crosses my mind that he might think ill of me after this. I'm awfully impetuous, I know. Still, this is a chance that never happens, so I should make as much use of it as I can.

I select the same video I played for Sasuke yesterday (Naruto whines a little when I instruct him to look away), and let it run until I deem it prudent to click "pause". Once more I swivel around in my chair to witness a reaction; this time I am not disappointed. Poor Naruto cannot believe his eyes.

That wicked smirk crosses my face again. "I shall play you another video, one that I did not show Sasuke." Even to me, my voice sounds strange, and I suppose that to Naruto, it is stranger still. He is speechless. I am exerting a mighty effort to restrain my glee. The next YouTube video I play for naïve little Naruto is of course the funny one I love, with the segment at the end that I'm sure he will appreciate. When it is done, I ask him what he thinks, not daring to turn around to face him lest I dissolve into laughter.

"You showed Sasuke_that_?!?!?!"

I nod, and then correct him, "Only the first one."

Naruto begins to sigh in relief, before he catches what he is doing and whacks himself on the forehead. I'm glad he has his headband on. "So _that's_ why he's been weird—oh good."

Another blunder by Naruto. "'Oh good'?" I am truly giggling by now, and he's blushing furiously. I repent and say that I'm sincerely sorry, that I know I'm being awful, but a newly mature Naruto just laughs.

"It's okay. I didn't think it was possible, though."

"That's what Sasuke said."

I can almost see the flash of white that appears in mangas whenever a character realizes something. I'm so glad that he hasn't totally flipped out at me, and more elated still that my little scheme is going so well. Though Naruto is mortified and tongue-tied for a few moments, he relaxes eventually and we chatter about the series for a while like I did with Sasuke yesterday. Naruto is much more willing to talk than his black-haired friend—it is particularly evident to me now how they balance each other out. He has to leave at five or so, and I say goodbye and tell him that he is always welcome to drop by to see me.

As he dashes away across the neighbors' rooftops, I call out, "Good luck!"

Over the next two days, I slip back into my usual routine of school and anime-watching, though I can't help wondering how Sasuke and Naruto are doing. I'm not as surprised as I would have expected, though, when I walk home to find a kunai stuck into the porch on the third day after Naruto's visit. I wrench it out of the wood and slip off the message I find tied around its handle. It's obviously Naruto's handwriting, very hurriedly scrawled.

"Emma," the note says, "I would watch out if I were you. Sakura and Ino aren't very happy with you right now."

I throw back my head and laugh triumphantly.

--end--

A/N: isn't letting me put in the links for the videos mentioned in the story, so here's how you get to them:

The first one: you search "SasuNaru Unwritten" on YouTube, and it's the first one that comes up.

The second one: search "SasuNaru some pics are funny" on YouTube, and it's the first one that comes up.

I take no credit for the awesome work of the awesome people who created these videos.


End file.
